2.
“I can remember being in 7th grade during a school “break” in the courtyard and my best friend grasping at the top of my head and exclaiming, “You have a gray hair!” She affectionately termed this my unicorn hair, and we watched as the year went on and more and more unicorn hair appeared on my head.
By the time I was 16, I had more unicorn hair than I could pull out or hide by changing my part, and I began coloring it on a monthly basis. This continued for six years until some time in 2015 when I began thinking, what if I just let it go, quit spending so much money and time on covering my gray, and just LET IT GO.
Honestly, I was pretty hesitant, but one evening when my boyfriend and his sweet family heard I was contemplating going gray, they encouraged me whole heartedly, giving me that boost of confidence I was lacking. Now, I wish I had never even began dying my hair in the first place!
Here I am today, at 27 years old, and I’ve sported a full head of gray hair for going on four years! The growing out stage was awkward of course. I even interviewed at my current firm with half gray, half brown hair thinking, “Please don’t let them think I’m crazy.” I can’t count how many people stop me on a DAILY basis to talk about my hair – it is the ultimate icebreaker. I’ve turned so many strangers into friends – young/old, male/female…, you name it. My heart feels so full when someone tells me I’ve inspired them to embrace their natural beauty as well – whatever it may be! So, what I’d like to say to you is, don’t hide your natural beauty, whatever it may be – embrace it! You’ll soon thank yourself.”
3.
The Grombre community has grown to a large, respectable group now. It has over 139,000 members on Instagram, over 16,000 followers on Facebook, and another 222 supporters on Twitter. Three guesses which social media Grombre likes the best?
“A radical celebration of the natural phenomenon of grey hair,” that’s how Grombre presents itself on Instagram, inviting women of all backgrounds to submit their photos and the stories of their relationships with their graying hair.
Bored Panda spoke with Ahu Michaelides about her relationship with her gray hair, as well as about the Grombre community. Michaelides was recently featured on the Grombre Instagram account.
“We are a group of women from all around the world with different backgrounds and stories but we have a similar approach to society’s standards of beauty which is: “You don’t need to fit in to be considered beautiful.”
